Tag: USA

In Kurdistan, signs of diminished freedoms for Christians

June 1, 2017 Iraq Kurds, Religious freedom, USA

Christians of different denominations, most of them refugees from Iraq's Nineveh Plain, celebrate the Return Festival in Erbil, Iraq, in November 2016.

As bad as the past two years have been for the Christians and other religious minorities of northern Iraq, their torment by the so-called Islamic State could have been much worse if they had not been able to obtain refuge in next-door Kurdistan, Iraq’s semi-autonomous region in the north. “Even . . . Read More

US Commission urges Trump administration to prioritise international religious freedom

May 18, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Abune Antonios, Andrew Brunson, Central African Republic, China, Donald Trump, Eritrea, Eritrean Orthodox Church, Iran, Mike Pence, Myanmar, Nguyen Cong Chinh, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Religious freedom, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

An influential US government commission that monitors religious freedom around the world is urging President Donald Trump and his new administration to take concrete steps to make advocacy of universal religious rights a priority in American foreign policy. “Our foreign policy should not simply be about US self-interest – you know, . . . Read More

Relatives of Coptic ‘martyrs’ join summit on persecuted Christians in US capital

May 11, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Chad, Converts, Copts, Donald Trump, Egypt, India, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Libya, Mexico, Mike Pence, Pakistan, Refugees, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, USA

A “World Summit in Defence of Persecuted Christians” has started in Washington DC, and is expected to be addressed by the US Vice-President Mike Pence today (Thursday, 11 May). It has been organised by American evangelist Franklin Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. 600 participants have come from 136 countries: including Egypt, . . . Read More

US watchdog adds Russia to its list of worst oppressors of religion

April 27, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Bahrain, Religious freedom, Russia, Taliban, USA

Religious freedom is in retreat worldwide, and for the first time Russia is among the world’s worst oppressors, according to America’s most prominent and influential scorecard on the issue. The annual report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, released 26 April, puts its case plainly in its opening . . . Read More

How do Christians respond to persecution?

April 26, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Iraq, Islamic State, Pakistan, Syria, USA

Christians choose to respond to religious persecution by adopting “survival strategies” that require a lot of “creativity, determination and courage".

A report looking into the ways Christians respond to persecution has found that their “survival strategies” require a lot of “creativity, determination and courage”, while violence is seldom used. “Christians are the most widely targeted religious community, suffering terrible persecution globally,” according to the University of Notre Dame’s report, In . . . Read More

Mexico drug cartels charging churches ‘taxes’ now ‘very common’

March 17, 2017 Mexico Coahuila, Latin America, Organised crime, USA

Mexico is infamous for its high crime rates. (Photo: Otay Detention Centre in California, next to Mexican border / BBC World Service / CC)

A Mexican church leader has provided fresh insight into the ways in which Christians in Latin America come under pressure in areas controlled by drug cartels. The pastor, who wished to remain anonymous, told World Watch Monitor about the “tax” churches can be charged to be allowed to remain open. . . . Read More

South Korean pastors arrested for helping North Korean defectors

March 16, 2017 South Korea China, North Korea, Seoul, South Korea, USA

North Korean soldiers patrol the Yalu River on the Chinese-North Korean border

Two South Korean pastors have been arrested by Chinese police for giving protection to North Korean defectors in China, reports the South Korean news agency, Yonhap. The anti-North Korean campaign group, Justice for North Korea, said that the two pastors were helping defectors at risk of being repatriated. The pastors . . . Read More

Trump travel ban dints Iraqi Christians’ support

February 23, 2017 Iraq Assyrians, Dohuk, Donald Trump, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Kurds, USA

Iraqi Christians who backed the candidacy of Donald Trump have become disillusioned with his presidency since his executive order barred Iraqis, along with citizens of six other Muslim-majority countries, from entering the US. Many Iraqi minorities supported Trump because of his anti-Islamic State rhetoric. The Assyrian Church of the East’s . . . Read More

China expels South Korean missionaries

February 14, 2017 South Korea China, Kim Jong-Un, North Korea, South Korea, USA

Thirty-two South Korean missionaries were expelled from China’s border region with North Korea last month, reports The Guardian. The 32 were based in China’s north-eastern Yanji region and many of them had worked there for more than a decade, South Korean media have reported. South Korea’s foreign ministry says it has . . . Read More

UN says 600,000 in need of food aid in S. Kordofan

February 10, 2017 Sudan Barack Obama, Blue Nile, Petr Jašek, Sanctions, South Kordofan, SPLM-N, Sudan, USA

A political impasse is delaying the delivery of aid to 600,000 people in need in Sudan’s war-torn South Kordofan region, writes Nuba Reports in the Huffington Post. Sudan has been bombing rebel groups based there, as well as destroying farmland and crops. Hope came from an agreed six-month ceasefire extension . . . Read More

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